Team must stay in village: Boyle

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Superstar athletes expecting five-star accommodation at the
Commonwealth Games next year are "kidding themselves", according to
Australian track and field legend Raelene Boyle.

With some of Australia's biggest stars expected to stay in
luxury hotels rather than the controversial athletes village in
Parkville, Boyle urged the entire Australian squad to stay under
one roof.

"These days, you see the bigger stars staying outside the
village a lot more. In my early days of competing, it was
compulsory to stay in the village - if you were in the team, you
stayed in the village and it didn't matter what your argument was,"
she said.

"To build team spirit and to keep a united front, the team
should stay together. I think it's very good for everyone to live
under one roof."

Boyle, who made the comments at a recent launch of a junior
athletics program, questioned why athletes needed the pampering of
a five-star hotel room over the shared accommodation at the
village.

"When it's all boiled down, it doesn't matter where you stay.
I've stayed in university colleges where it is very, very basic,"
she said.

"It's about the atmosphere of the Games and getting on with the
job at hand and anyone who wants five-or six-star accommodation,
they are joking, they are kidding themselves from the athletic
point of view.

"After all, all you are doing is running a race or jumping a
jump. What do you need?"

The Parkville village was redesigned late last year to increase
the amount of space for athletes.

Under the new plans, up to 26 athletes will be housed under one
roof, with three athletes sharing some bedrooms. Up to 33 athletes
were expected to share a house under the original plans.

Hundreds of athletes will be housed in temporary dwellings at
the village site, with 14 athletes sharing a six-bedroom
demountable unit in some cases.

"The village is good because you are protected from the media,
you are protected from the public, you can pretty much relax and do
your own thing and keep yourself focused and that's the most
important thing," Boyle said.

Boyle did not name the athletes likely to favour luxury hotels
over the village, but predicted that a small proportion would snub
the Parkville site.

"You would get the superstars that would be staying out and,
interestingly enough, they are the people who can make a difference
to the rest of the team's success if they stay around in the
village," she said.

"But everyone does it their own way - as much as I would like to
see the team stay together."

THE GAMES VILLAGE
Standard living conditions include:WATER: 200 litres of cold and 50 litres of hot
water per athlete a day.BEDS: At least 20 per cent of beds must be at
least 2.2 metres long.FURNITURE: Mirrors, cupboards, clothes hangers
and curtains considered standard equipment.HOUSEKEEPING: Rooms to be cleaned daily by
village staff; bed linen changed twice per week; two towels per
person every two days.SOURCE: Commonwealth Games Federation Constitution